Granite and limestone office towers from the early 1900s rise eight to eleven storeys over a compact Main Street grid.
What Downtown Worcester looks like
Main Street carries the downtown core as a run of early twentieth century office towers, eight to eleven storeys, granite at street level and pale limestone above. The 's top two floors step back behind a loggia framed by Corinthian columns, a Rite Aid and a Burger King filling the storefronts at its base now. A few blocks south, the rises in matching limestone over a glass banking hall, its cornice carried on paired brackets.
Red brick breaks up the limestone run. The Thule Building's four arched windows sit under a datestone reading 1905, green awnings over a copy shop and a law library at street level. At Harrington Corner, where Main crosses Pleasant Street, a mansard roofed Second Empire block faces a taller limestone tower across the intersection. Traffic signals hang on wires overhead.
Franklin Street holds the district's other face. The former 's terra cotta cornice tops ten storeys of brick, its arched ground floor windows now fronting a lobby and a bar. The former Telegram and Gazette Building runs plain and low beside the taller stone towers, its own lettering still spelled across the top floor. opens along Front Street, a flat lawn with City Hall's clock tower and red tile roof along its western edge and a glass office tower rising behind.
Front Street is newer than the rest of downtown. A six storey brick and glass hotel wraps its own corner at one end. A block south, dark storefront glass lettered Shangri-La fronts a buff brick and terra cotta building.
Shot in Downtown Worcester
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Honest Thief and Free Guy have all shot scenes on downtown Worcester's own streets rather than on a backlot. HBO Max's Julia used the Denholm Building on Main Street as a department store standing in for Boston's Jordan Marsh.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Main Street between and Worcester Common. Marvel closed more than a dozen downtown blocks at once for the production.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 2022
Mechanics Hall
Marvel used Mechanics Hall for a sequence in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, one of more than a dozen downtown Worcester locations closed for the production. The 1857 concert hall's arched windows and stone pediment face Main Street directly.
Honest Thief, 2020
Honest Thief filmed scenes with Liam Neeson at Worcester City Hall, one of several downtown locations the production used over its Worcester shoot. The 1898 building's clock tower and red tile roof stand over Main Street at the edge of Worcester Common.
Honest Thief, 2020
Front Street
Crew set up filming equipment on Front Street for Honest Thief, along the Common's northern edge. The street's terra cotta and buff brick commercial row includes this building at number 50, now a restaurant.
Honest Thief, 2020
Honest Thief filmed scenes at the AC Marriott hotel on Front Street, part of the same downtown Worcester shoot that used City Hall and Main Street. The hotel's brick and glass tower rises six storeys over its own corner entrance.
What Downtown Worcester can double for
Court Square in Springfield, Massachusetts
Court Square's limestone and granite office and bank buildings rise to a similar height on a compact downtown grid, built across the same span of years as Worcester's own towers. The Municipal Group anchors the square much as City Hall anchors Worcester Common. Springfield's blocks run a little lower on average and the Connecticut River waterfront shows in a westward wide shot, so keep street level frames tight to Court Square itself. Try searching limestone office building Court Square now.
Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Lackawanna Avenue's early twentieth century banks and office blocks were built taller than most of Scranton's downtown, in the same granite and limestone as Worcester's Main Street towers. The avenue carries a similar scale of storefront beneath the stone upper floors. Scranton's buildings run a story or two shorter on average, so a wide shot works better than an angle that would show the difference in height. Try searching granite limestone downtown office block now.
Downtown Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Downtown Bridgeport's early twentieth century office buildings run eight storeys in brick and granite, close to the height of Worcester's own towers. The core here is smaller, so a wide shot reaches its edges faster than in Worcester. Bridgeport's buildings are brick more often than full stone. Newer infill breaks up the block in ways Worcester's does not, so a tighter period frame works best here. Try searching eight storey brick office building now.
